Quiet night at the nurses station

I am sitting at the nurse' s station. The unit is finally quiet. It has been a busy night. It always is around the Holidays. Families who never visit suddenly show up to see Grandma and make sure they will get a Christmas check. The there are those famlies who visit regularly but seem filled wth guilt because they can't do it at home any more. For whatever the reason, they jus can't keep on giving the care they need to and so their person is now living with us in a nursing home. Oh yeah I forgot we don't call them that any more we are a medical care facility. I have been working here so long I feel like part of the building. Things have changed a lot. Some of it is better. We don't tie people in chairs anymore. We don't shove pureed green stuff in their mouth and pretend it is delicious. We don't fill them full of tranquilizers so they couldn't move even if they wanted to. But there is still a lot more that needs to happen.

I started working here fresh out of high school. I worked here until I went to ursing school. Back then you lived at the school and you were the staff as well as the student. It wasn't all a bad way to learn. When you graduated you knew how to run a floor and no funny business was tolerated. But nurses didn't get much respect back then. We were just supposed to be there to help doctors even though we really ran the units. The best doctors knew it and gave us the respect we deserved but there were plenty of doctors who didn't.

Well, anyhow here I am gathering wool instead of getting my charting done and getting out of here. The midnight shift will be here in a few minutes. I like that new midnight nurse, Jenny. She is energetic and wants to learn. Several times I have found her down in the library or in the human resource office applying for some seminar. She comes to work on time, dresses neatly without extra perfume or jewelry. A real plus if you ask me. The other staff seem to like her too

I look up at the monitor. A call light is ringing. It's Mrs. Wojack in 122A. I know she is just lonely. Her roommate died this week and we haven't filled the bed, probably because of the holidays. They had been roommates for over 2 years. Maybe not long in other worlds but in this world it's life time. Mrs. Wojack is a little confused and it gets worse at night. I know that happens with a lot of residents but it doesn't make it any easier to manage.

I look down the hall. The rest of the staff, nurse's aides, are busy makng last rounds.Their cart covered by a sheet is parked in the hallway. The other cart is filled with plastic water pitchers. They are combining two tasks to try to get done on time. I usually try to help them make their last round but most of the doctors were in to make visits tonight so they could have their holiday free. That meant more work for me and the charts we stacked high on the desk.

I close the chart I have been writing in and sighing haul myself out of the chair. I plod slowly across the hall my feet tied from the long day. I wish I had a magic wand to make all my residents have just one good nights rest. But I was pretty sure that wouldn't happen at least not all at once. I switch my flashlight on and shine it on my uniform to keep the glare down but to light my way into the room. Mrs. Wojack is curled up in a ball like a little child. Only her tightly curled white hair indicates she is not a toddler. At first I think she is sleeping. I start to tiptoe out. Then she looks up. "Chest pain" she says. I instantly wake up. I turn the overhead light on "Shoot" her lips have a bluish tinge. I reach for her wrist to take her pulse and I notice she feels slightly clammy. Her pulse is racing threadily. I stickmy head ut the door and call an aid. "Oxygen and a stretcher" I order. I finish taking her vitals and listen for her sketchy lung sounds. The midnight staff is now arriving. Jenny still in her jacket peeks in the door. She leaves just long enough to throw her coat at the desk and enters the room to assist. Together we work to make Mrs.Wojack comfortable. I leave Jenny in the room with her and I go to the desk to call the doctor. Mrs. Wojack will be sent to the ER for evaluation but I am sure she won't be lonely tonight. I guess I won't be either since it will be another long night for me.